SPRING VALLEY — After 29 minutes of fast-paced defensive basketball, Spring Valley trailed Elmwood/Plum City 32-28 with seven minutes to play. Neither team was done hitting the floor for loose balls and scrapping for rebounds.

When an EPC layup bowled around the rim and out, Spring Valley freshman Amelia Brunner snagged the rebound, pushed the pace and floated a pass inside to open sophomore Katie Matthys for a layup. Senior Addasin Ingli countered with a free throw to keep EPC in front 33-30.

On EPC’s next possession, a misfired floater went directly into the hands of Matthys who drove coast to coast for a layup. About a minute later, EPC junior Allison Sauve drove left and found a window for a layup of her own.

The physical Spring Valley press then forced a loose ball that went right to junior Kate Cipriano for an easy bucket to trail 35-34 with three minutes to go. With 1:23 to play, Brunner cashed a free throw to tie the game at 35. Spring Valley again earned a steal, but an errant down court pass went right into Sauve’s hands who quickly dished it to sophomore Polly Webb on the wing who nailed an open three for a 38-35 lead with just under a minute to play. Just seconds later, Matthys dribbled up the court and lobbed a pass into the post for freshman Riley Zimmerman for an interior bucket. With 30 seconds to play, the press found the Cardinals yet another steal; however, EPC got a stop this time around. Upon getting the ball across halfcourt, EPC called timeout with 22 seconds remaining and a one-point lead.

“I’ve grown up obviously playing against Elmwood my whole life, Plum City my whole life,” Spring Valley Head Coach Sean Hoolihan said. “Rivalry games are fun, and they always tend to be close games no matter the records.”

As their backs were against the wall, senior Rylie Fritz caught a burst of acceleration to fully extend and poke the ball loose on the inbounds pass, scoring a nice and easy layup with 17 seconds left on the clock and a 39-38 lead. On the final possession, Fritz again collected a steal as the Cardinals stole a rivalry win.

“We got an ugly win. Proud of our kids the way they keep battling, fighting through the end, but that was ugly,” Hoolihan said. “EPC did a nice job tonight. It was an ugly game overall for probably both teams.”

Scrappy games are not the fear for Spring Valley, as they have won this style of basketball game in the past. Back on Dec. 29, the Cardinals beat a strong Prairie Farm/Clayton team 39-33 in their gym. Where the issue lies is when scrappy turns to sloppy.

“That’s what we have to learn. We still turn the ball over way too much. We foul too much,” Hoolihan said. “We’ve got to clean that stuff up. As we keep going here, Durand next week, if we turn the ball over and put them at the free throw line, it’s going to be a close game or they’re going to pull ahead of us.”

Spring Valley is 5-5 on the year with a 3-2 Dunn-St. Croix Conference record. As they battle to continue to climb higher in the standings, the mentality has gone a long way.

“Our whole team kind of has the mindset of never giving up, and it was good to see,” Hoolihan said.

After one win over the last two years, EPC currently holds a 6-7 overall record and 2-4 conference record. Returning largely the same roster from a year ago, the Wolves have not lost the hunger or the pack mentality.